America East Basketball: Way-too-early power rankings for 2020-21 season

9) Maine

2019-2020 Record: 9-22 (5-11 AEast)

Key Returning Players

2019-2020 was another disappointment for the Black Bears, making it now seven straight seasons with single digits wins. Head coach Richard Barron looks to take some positive strides entering into his third season. Head coach Barron will have to rely on senior  Nedeljko Prijovic. Prijovic gave team quality minutes last season putting up 10.7 points, doubling his points from his sophomore season at Texas State. Forwards Vilgot Larson and Stephane Ingo will be the ancillary pieces that will see their minutes increase vastly.

Key Losses

The Black Bears will be without their top scorer from a year ago, Sergio El Darwich. El Darwich averaged 14.9 points to go along with 5.2 rebounds but struggled from distance which was a recurring theme for the entire Maine team. Forward Andrew Fleming will also have the rest of his eligibility expire. Fleming put up a little over 14 points and led the team with rebounding with 6.2 boards. Between the two, Fleming and El Darwich were responsible for almost half of Maine’s offense. Replacing half of your production is never an easy task.

Key Newcomers

Maine has been known to go after international players including 11 on last year’s roster alone. Continuing the trend, Maine is bringing in Randell Wiel a 6’4 guard out of the Netherlands. Wiel has competed in various FIBA 3 on 3 tournaments and a plethora of Amsterdam streetball tournaments. Not your typical basketball upbringing. Along with him, Matty Fleming will be staying in his home state and joining the Bears. A 6’6 forward that can shoot the three should help boost Maine’s dreadful shooting from a year ago. Matty is also the brother of returning starter Andrew Fleming.

Bottom Line

Losing your top two guys on a team that let alone only won nine games, is going to be a steep hill to climb for coach Barron. More likely than not Maine will need to make significant strides in order for him to retain his job. Barron will have to rely on his returning guys to take major steps forwards to obtain any kind of success. But from what it looks like it could be another long year for the Black Bears.